In my opinion, the growing power of specialty providers has a direct impact on other professions and areas of healthcare. In particular, the medical services market is gradually becoming heterogeneous, and certain areas have formed developed competitive markets (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2016). General medicine services face increased competition from the side of state and departmental hospitals and clinics that provide paid services both officially and under hidden schemes. In recent years, this market segment has developed rapidly, and it is difficult to predict what the long-term consequences of it will be. In the context of generally accessible primary medical care with general medical practice, with its well-known problems and its inherent disadvantages, an alternative system is being formed. This is a system of high-quality paid specialty care with the provision of all types of medical care in settings of maximum convenience and comfort. The demand for specialized medical care, the need to improve the standards of its quality and comfort in modern society make us consider paid medical care as an important and mandatory social component of modernizing health care.
I think that the complexity of the situation lies in the fact that the market booming with the constantly growing number of specialty providers results in increased costs for patients (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2016). In the setting of the fee-for-service approach, providers want to sell more services to clients and make them take tests that they do not need. In addition, it is difficult to achieve continuity of care in such an environment, which inevitably affects both patient and healthcare outcomes. Provider consolidation not only drives up the costs for healthcare but also results in a situation where other professions cannot keep pace with the increasing power of providers (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2016).
Reference
Bodenheimer, T. S., & Grumbach, K. (2016). Understanding health policy: A clinical approach (7th ed.). McGraw Hill Professional.